WASHINGTON,  I).  C. 

Thomas  McGill  <£  Co  ,  Printers. 
1881. 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


For  many  years  the  star  of  empire  cast  its  rays  westward, 
until  it  reached  the  Golden  Gate  of  the  Pacific,  where  it 
reposed,  and  has  been  the  beacon  light  of  nations.  But 
now  it  seems  to  be  receiving  a  new  impulse,  aitd  is  turn¬ 
ing  toward  the  Southern  Cross.  Governments,  geographical 
societies,  mercantile  organizations,  capitalists,  and  mission¬ 
ary  associations  are  penetrating  Africa  in  all  her  parts,  and 
that  vast  continent  is  beginning  to  feel  a  new  ei’a.  Christ- 
endom  is  becoming  undeceived.  A  world  is  opening. 

GOVERNMENTAL  ACTION. 

Reports  have  been  made  to  the  President  of  the  French 
Republic  by  the  leaders  of  the  four  expeditions  dispatched 
to  prospect  for  a  railroad  across  the  so-called  Desert  of 
Sahara  and  from  the  upper  Senegal  to  Timbuctoo.  That 
from  St.  Louis  had  met  with  armed  opposition  from  the 
natives,  but  the  others  were  comparatively  successful  in 
testing  parallel  lines  as  to  their  security  and  practicability. 
This  year  the  Chambers  further  voted  $300,000  to  the  Min¬ 
ister  of  Marine,  to  l}e  expended  in  the  erection  of  fortifi¬ 
cations  in  Medine,  in  surveys  for  a  railway  from  the  Sen¬ 
egal  to  the  Niger,  and  for  a  cable  from  Isle  cle  Saint  to 
Cape  Yerd. 

The  German  Parliament  appropriated  $25,000  for  Afri- 


o 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


can  research  in  its  relations  to  commerce,  and  with  this 
aid  and  private  gifts  the  German  Geographical  Society  has 
six  different  expeditions  in  Africa,  led  by  Messrs.  Buchner, 
Sentz,  Rohlfs,  Bohm,  Pogge.  and  Flegel,  respectively. 

Italy  has  taken  her  first  installment  of  African  territory 
by  seizing  the  Bay  of  Assab,  south  of  St.  Paul  de  Loando. 
and  she  has  sent  mechanics  and  colonists  there  to  form  a 
settlement.  The  harbor  is  large,  and  can  receive  vessels 
of  any  tonnage.  The  Egyptian  Government  has  ordered 
an  official  exploration  of  Soudan,  both  from  a  geograph¬ 
ical  and  an  economical  point  of  view.  At  the  extreme 
south  of  the  continent  the  English  are  pushing  northward 
their  arms  and  institutions,  building  up  an  empire.  The 
occupation  of  Quittah  and  Porto  Novo,  on  the  west  coast, 
is  urged  on  the  British  Government,  and  Dahomey  and 
Ashantee  will  soon  become,  it  is  believed,  possessions  of 
the  same  sagacious  power. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  EXPEDITIONS. 

The  Geographical  Society  of  Spain  has  sent  Commander 
Sosten  on  a  mission  of  discovery  in  eastern  Africa.  Two 
Portuguese  expeditions  are  to  start  simultaneously  from  the 
Portuguese  territories  on  the  east  and  west  coasts,  which 
are  intended,  after  founding  a  series  of  commercial  sta¬ 
tions,  to  meet  in  the  interior.  They  will  probably  follow 
nearly  the  line  of  the  Zambesi — the  Mississippi  of  Africa. 
An  Austrian  party  is  to  examine  Kalakka,  and  another,  led 
by  Holub,  is  preparing  to  start  from  Cape  Colony  to  pen¬ 
etrate  to  Zambesi  and  through  Darfur.  An  Italian  expedi¬ 
tion  is  exploring  Abyssinia,  and  thence  to  Soudan.  A  Rus¬ 
sian  party  is  journeying  up  the  Nile.  The  British  expedi¬ 
tion,  commanded  by  Mr.  J.  Thomson,  successor  of  the 


TIIE  OPENING  OF  A  WOULD. 


3 


lamented  Mr.  Keith  Johnson,  has  examined  the  region 
north  of  lake  Nyassa  and  south  of  lake  Tanganyika.  Count 
de  Brazza  is  engaged  in  a  second  attempt  to  discover  the 
sources  of  the  Ogove.  Captain  Philipson  Wybrants  is 
leading  an  English  expedition  for  the  exploration  of  Um- 
zila’s  kingdom. 

Ardent  expectations  centre  on  the  Congo  country.  Here 
Mr.  H.  M.  Stanley,  under  the  patronage  of  the  International 
African  Association,  is  conducting  a  generously-equipped 
party  of  some  twenty  Europeans  and  one  hundred  Africans. 
Part  of  his  grand  mission  is  the  opening  of  a  road  ten  feet 
wide  on  the  north  side  of  the  Congo  or  Livingstone  river, 
and  the  establishment  of  “rest-houses,”  supplied  with  goods, 
provisions,  and  medical  stores  for  trade,  travellers,  and 
missionaries.  This  indefatigable  explorer- has  founded  the 
first  civilizing  station  at  Yivi.  The  next  is  to  be  at  Stan¬ 
ley  Pool,  and  two  others  are  to  be  far  inland.  ITe  is  sur¬ 
mounting  the  gigantic  difficulties  in  the  way,  and  continues 
sanguine  of  his  ability  to  ascend  this  mighty  river  to  its 
source. 

Four  other  expeditions  of  the  same  association,  of 
which  the  enlightened  King  of  Belgium  is  president,  are 
exploring  Africa.  One  of  these  is  proceeding  from  Zanzi¬ 
bar,  forming  stations  and  intending  to  join  Mr.  Stanley  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Congo,  the  whole  to  constitute  a 
chain  of  commercial  centres  across  the  continent. 

It  is  an  interesting  and  important  fact  that  elephants, 
trained  as  transports,  are  performing  their  part  well.  There 
can  no  longer  be  any  question  that  this  new  burden-bearer, 
which  caii  carry  about  half  a  ton  each,  will  be  a  very  valu¬ 
able  assistant  in  the  march  of  civilization  through  the  wilds 
of  tropical  Africa. 


4 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


COMMERCIAL  ENDEAVORS. 

Many  eyes  are  looking  to  Africa  as  the  quarter  from 
which  relief  may  be  most  speedily  expected  for  the  languish¬ 
ing  industries  and  idle  capital  of  Europe.  Mr.  Donald  Mac¬ 
kenzie  is  again  at  Cape  Juby  with  a  miscellaneous  cargo  by 
the  steamer  Corsair,  from  London,  to  open  trading  connec¬ 
tions  inland.  The  Governor  of  Sierra  Leone  is  arranging 
an  expedition  from  Bathurst,  by  way  of  Sego,  to  Timbuc- 
too,  prepared  to  conduct  an  extensive  business  on  sound 
principles.  Mr.  Geoffrey,  an  experienced  engineer,  and 
Mr.  Gillis,  formerly  a  merchant  at  Cape  Palmas  and  at 
Grand  Bassam,  have  left  Antwerp  for  the  Congo  to  intro¬ 
duce  a  system  of  legitimate  commerce.  The  formation  is 
stated  at  Viele  of  an  Anglo-Franco-Danish  society  to  dis¬ 
patch  caravans  and  commercial  parties  and  to  open  farms 
and  trading  depots  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  A  company 
in  Paris  has  secured  privileges  in  the  forests  and  mines 
of  the  Zambesi  section,  which  are  said  to  be  of  immense 
value.  A  company  has  been  formed  at  Zanzibar  with  the 
view  of  organizing  a  regular  service  of  transport  between 
the  coast  and  the  lakes  Tanganyika  and  Victoria.  The 
society  is  to  guarantee  the  arrival  at  its  destination  of  mer¬ 
chandise  and  baggage  confided  to  its  care.  It  has,  more¬ 
over,  taken  steps  to  establish  at  Tabora  a  depot  for  mer¬ 
chandise,  whence  travellers  can  obtain  supplies,  and  where 
payment  will  be  made  by  letters  of  exchange  either  upon 
Zanzibar  or  upon  some  European  banker  previously  ap¬ 
pointed.  By  the  aid  of  the  eight  stations  which  will  soon 
be  established  between  Bagamoyo  and  Karema,  a  traveller 
will  be  able  to  reach  the  lakes  with  a  light  caravan  in  less 
than  two  months. 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


5 


STEAM  LINES. 

A  line  of  steamers  belonging  to  Uricli  Durler  &  Co.  is 
to  commence  running  early  in  the  year  from  Germany  to 
the  west  coast  of  Africa.  Messrs.  A.  C.  Verminck  &  Co.,, 
long  engaged  in  the  trade,  intend  to  put  on  several  steam¬ 
ers  between  Marseilles  and  western  Africa,  the  first  ves¬ 
sel  to  leave  in  December.  She  is  1,200  tons  register,  and 
is  named  the  Djolibah,  in  commemoration  of  the  discovery 
of  the  sources  of  the  Niger  by  Messrs.  Zweisel  and  Mou- 
stier,  at  the  direction  and  expense  of  Mr.  Verminck.  They 
describe  this  famous  stream  as  rising  about  100  miles  back  of 
Liberia,  running  thence  northeast  toward  the  desert ;  turn¬ 
ing  at  length  to  the  southeast,  and  again  to  the  southwest, 
emptying  into  the  sea  more  than  3,000  miles  from  where 
it  began. 

A  third  line  of  steamers — the  West  African  Steam  Navi¬ 
gation  Company — has  been  commenced  between  Liverpool 
and  the  west  coast  of  Africa  for  freight  and  passenger 
accommodation.  The  African  Steamship  Company  and 
the  British  and  African  Steam  Navigation  Company  are 
jointly  dispatching  a  monthly  steamer  direct  from  Ham¬ 
burg  to  western  Africa.  This  is  in  addition  to  their  week¬ 
ly  steamer  from  Liverpool  and  Glasgow  for  Africa.  The 
last-named  company  has  just  had  built  two  steel  steamers 
of  1,850  tons  register  each.  The  shallow  depth  of  water  on 
the  bars  of  most  of  the  west  African  rivers,  always  a  seri¬ 
ous  obstacle,  will  be  thus  measurably  overcome  by  the  light¬ 
ness  of  steel  over  iron.  Steel  is  now  considered  the  most 
perfect  material  for  ship-building,  as  well  as  the  cheapest 
in  the  long  run.  If  so,  it  is  surely  destined  to  make  a  rev¬ 
olution  in  the  ocean  marine  and  war  fleets  of  the  world. 
German  merchants  are  extending  their  connections  along 


6 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


the  northern  African  coast,  and  a  line  of  steamers  is  pro¬ 
jected  between  Morocco  and  Bremen.  Increased  commu¬ 
nication  has  been  provided  between  Algeria  and  Marseilles. 
A  royal  mail  steamer  leaves  Lisbon  the  5th  of  every  month, 
and,  touching  at  various  places  on  the  way,  makes  the  pas¬ 
sage  to  Angola  and  Bengueja  in  about  thirty-five  days. 

Steamers  are  running  on  the  rivers  Senegal,  Gambia, 
St.  Paul’s,  Niger,  Gaboon,  Ogove,  Coanza,  and  the  Zam¬ 
besi  and  its  tributary,  the  Shire,  and  on  the  lakes  Victoria- 
Nyanza,  Tanganyika,  and  Nyassa,  mostly  in  the  prosecution 
of  trade. 

GOLD  MINING. 

Pive  organizations  are  operating  in  the  Wassaw  country. 
These  are  the  Effuenta  Gold  Mine  Company,  the  Swanzey 
Company,  the  Gold  Coast  Mining  Company,  and  the  Aboso 
Gold  Mining  Company  (English),  and  the  African  Gold 
Coast  Company  (French).  The  latter  named  is  the  pio¬ 
neer  mover,  having  only  began  in  August,  1878,  to  drive 
three  tunnels  or  drifts,  yet  they  now  report  “between  one 
and  two  thousand  tons  of  ore  extracted,  worth  <£5  4s.  per 
ton,  and  are  in  a  condition  to  extract  some  forty  tons  per  day 
of  much  richer  ore,  with  an  almost  certainty  of  an  output 
of  a  hundred  tons  a  day  at  the  end  of  another  year.”  A 
commissioner  has  been  appointed  to  reside  at  Tacquah, 
with  a  salary  of  $3,000  per  annum,  thus  giving  assurance 
that  British  law  and  security  will  be  afforded  capital  and 
labor  in  mining  operations. 

RAILROADS. 

The  West  Africa  Light  Bailways  Company  of  London 
propose  the  building  of  four  railroads  in  the  Yoruba  coun¬ 
try,  viz. :  From  Salt  Pond  to  Mackessim,  twenty  miles ; 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


7 


Accra  to  the  river  Volta,  fifty  miles ;  Chamah  or  Dix  Cove 
to  the  Wassaw  gold  mines,  fifty  miles ;  and  from  Gaiin, 
opposite  Lagos,  to  Abbeokuta,  reputed  to  have  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  125,000,  forty  miles. 

It  is  humiliating,  perhaps,  to  Americans  that  an  English 
company  has  received  a  charter  from  Liberia  for  a  railroad 
extending  two  hundred  miles  back  from  Monrovia,  and 
designed  ultimately  to  connect  that  port  with  the  head¬ 
waters  of  the  Niger.  This  is  a  shorter  and  more  feasible 
route  than  that  contemplated  by  the  French  by  way  of  the 
Senegal,  and  is  attracting  considerable  interest  in  Europe. 

Six  different  railroads — short  ones,  of  course — are  par¬ 
tially  completed  in  South  Africa.  A  railroad  from  Zanzibar 
to  the  Victoria-Nyanza  lake  is  popularly  advocated  in  Eng¬ 
land.  The  Portuguese  propose  communication  with  lake 
Nyassa  and  the  east  coast  by  steamers  on  the  easily  naviga¬ 
ble  part  of  the  Zambesi  and  its  tributaries,  and  obviating 
the  difficulties  of  the  impeded  points  by  railways. 

TELEGRAPHS. 

Telegraphic  communication  is  now  complete  between 
London  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  project  for  con¬ 
structing  an  electric  line  from  end  to  end  of  Africa  has  the 
sanction  of  the  African  Exploration  Committee  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  of  England.  A  report  made  to  that 
society  on  the  subject  speaks  in  sanguine  terms  of  its  feasi¬ 
bility,  with  particulars  of  probable  cost  and  revenue.  The 
route  is  thus  described  :  “  The  Egyptian  Government,  at  one 
end,  is  prepared  to  carry  forward  its  line,  which  already 
extends  southward  some  distance  beyond  Khartoum,  as  far 
as  Gondokoro.  At  the  other  end  the  Government  of  Cape 
Colony  is  expected  to  extend  the  existing  line  in  British 
south  Africa  to  Pretoria,  in  the  Transvaal.  It  is  now  pro- 


8 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


posed  to  continue  the  line  from  the  southern  limits  of 
Egyptian  territory  to  Mtesa’s  capital,  and  thence  round  the 
western  shore  of  the  Yictoria-Nyanza,  and  on  to  Unyam- 
yembe  ;  from  thence  to  branch  out  westward  to  Ujiji  and 
eastward  to  Mpwapwa,  Bagamoyo,  and  Zanzibar ;  from 
Bagamoyo  to  conduct  the  wires  in  a  southwesterly  direction 
to  the  head  of  lake  Nyassa,  where  they  would  be  carried  to 
Livingstonia,  and  down  the  Shire  and  Zambesi,  and  thence 
southward  to  Pretoria.  The  whole  distance  from  Khartoum 
to  Pretoria  is  3,335  geographical  miles,  or  allowing  for  de¬ 
viations,  just  4,000  miles.”  This  is  claimed  to  be  no  more 
difficult  than  was  similar  work  .accomplished  in  Australia 
and  India. 

COAL,  IRON,  AND  DIAMONDS. 

According  to  an  official  geological  report  upon  the  Free 
State  of  the  Orange  River,  immense  beds  of  coal  and  iron 
exist  in  that  district.  The  iron  presents  three  parallel 
strata,  separated  by  grit,  which  will  furnish  millions  of 
tons,  and  it  lies  in  conditions  peculiarly  favorable  for  work¬ 
ing,  as  it  is  only  a  few  miles  from  a  coal-bed.  The  South 
African  mines  yielded  diamonds  in  1879  of  the  estimated 
value  of  $18,000,000,  a  slight  increase  over  the  product  of 
the  previous  year. 

NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 

The  African  Times,  devoted  to  African  development,  is 
a  paper  issued  at  London.  UAfrique  is  a  magazine  pub¬ 
lished  at  Geneva  in  the  interest  of  African  exploration. 
The  existence  of  such  enterprises,  wholly  devoted  to  one 
country,  is  evidence  of  the  present  importance  attaching 
to  Africa.  No  little  of  the  information  herein  presented 
is  derived  from  these  faithful  and  valuable  monthlies. 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


9 


MISSIONARY  EFFORTS. 

To  the  Christian,  Africa  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
portions  of  the  globe.  Efforts  to  penetrate  it  with  the  light 
of  the  Gospel  evince  an  enthusiasm  and  a  consecration  of 
talent  and  life  worthy  of  the  spacious  field  to  be  illumi¬ 
nated.  Though  the  bright  prospects  attending  the  early 
history  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England  mis¬ 
sion  in  Uganda  have  not  been  realized,  and  after  three 
years’  work  there  is  a  seemingly  unanimous  rejection  of 
Christianity  by  Mtesa  and  his  people,  still  a  number  of 
missionaries  remain,  and  others  are  on  their  way,  the  latter 
accompanied  by  three  Uganda  envoys  on  their  return  from 
London.  The  tidings  from  the  stations  of  the  same  society, 
and  from  those  of  the  Universities  of  Oxford,  Cambridge, 
Durham,  and  Dublin,  on  the  island  of  Zanzibar,  and  at 
Magilla  and  Macasi  on  the  mainland,  tell  of  steady  prog¬ 
ress.  The  London  Missionary  Society  has  not  only  rein¬ 
forced  its  flourishing  mission  on  lake  Tanganyika,  but 
commenced  a  station  on  its  western  shore.  The  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  Missionary  Society  has  opened  another 
station  at  Zomba.  The  French  Evangelical  Society  is  to 
push  forward  a  mission  from  that  at  Victoria  Falls  into  the 
Barotse  valley.  “The  Congo  Inland  Mission”  is  an  un¬ 
denominational  organization  in  England,  whose  fourteen 
representatives  have  accompanied  or  joined  Mr.  Stanley, 
and  are  establishing  stations  under  the  protection  of  the 
enterprise  with  which  he  is  intrusted. 

Bobert  Arthington,  Esq.,  continues  his  liberality  by  offer¬ 
ing  the  London  Missionary  Society  $15,000  for  the  building 
and  equipping  of  a  missionary  steamer  to  be  placed  on  lake 
Tanganyika,  and  to  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  Society 
$20,000  toward  putting  on  and  maintaining  a  missionary 


10 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


steamer  on  the  Congo  above  the  cataracts.  It  is  to  be 
launched  at  Stanley  Pool,  which  the  readers  of  “The  Dark 
Continent”  will  remember  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a 
fertile  and  populous  country. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  has  the  steamer  Henry 
Venn  employed  in  missionary  service  on  the  Niger  and 
its  branches  by  Bishop  Crowther  and  clergy.  The  Central 
African  Company  of  Edinburgh  has  placed  the  steamer 
Lake  Nyassa  on  the  lower  Zambesi  and  its  Shire  feeder 
from  lake  Nyassa ;  while  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
Missionary  Society  has  floated  the  steamer  Italia  on  the 
upper  Shire,  above  the  cataracts,  and  on  the  lake  itself, 
and  it  has  also  made  a  road  sixty  miles  long  around  the 
Shire  cataracts,  bringing  the  head  of  lake  Nyassa,  by  the 
Suez  Canal  route,  within  sixty  days’  travel  of  Great  Britain. 

The  receipt  of  a  very  large  legacy  has  stimulated  and 
enabled  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  to  undertake  the  establishment  of  a  mission  at 
Bihe,  a  populous  town  near  the  sources  of  the  Coanza,  and 
to  extend  the  Zulu  mission  into  Umzila’s  kingdom,  on  the 
southeastern  coast,  near  Delagoa  Bay.  The  American  Mis¬ 
sionary  Association  is  preparing  for  the  commencement  of 
a  mission  in  the  Nile  basin,  near  the  junction  of  the  Sobat 
with  the  Nile,  making  Khartoum  the  base  of  supplies. 

TIIE  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY 

appeals  for  wider  and  more  favorable  recognition  and  sup¬ 
port  than  it  has  hitherto  received.  The  planting  and  suc¬ 
cess  of  Liberia  illustrate  the  character  and  worth  of  its 
labors  and  vindicate  its  claims  upon  the  sympathy  and 
benevolence  of  the  patriot,  philanthropist,  and  Christian. 
With  the  increased  interest  now  felt  in  the  settlement  and 


THE  OPENING  OE  A  WORLD. 


11 


Christianization  of  Africa,  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that 
the  beginnings  made  in  the  young  African  republic  may 
lead  more  rapidly  than  ever  to  great  and  blessed  results. 

THE  APPOINTED  AGENTS. 

The  occupation  of  western  and  equatorial  Africa  by  whites 
cannot  proceed  fast,  if  at  all,  the  “climate  being  too  peril¬ 
ous  to  attract  large  numbers  of  them.  The  list  of  dead 
and  missing  among  recent  explorers,  traders,  miners,  and 
missionaries  but  confirms  the  sad  experience  of  previous 
attempts  to  open  and  elevate  the  continent.  “  Out  of  117 
missionaries,”  wrote  a  faithful  laborer  on  the  ground,  “  sent 
by  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  during  forty  years,  54 
died  on  the  field,  39  of  them  within  one  year  of  their  ar¬ 
rival  ;  and  of  those  who  survived  13  were  obliged  to  return 
after  a  residence  of  frcfen  six  to  twenty  months.”  In  thirty 
years  the  English  Church  Missionary  Society  sent  109  mis¬ 
sionaries,  half  of  whom  were  removed  by  death  at  their 
posts,  4  on  their  way  home,  and  14  returned  with  impaired 
constitutions.  Forty-one  missionaries  of  the  Basle  Mission¬ 
ary  Society  died  at  their  stations  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years.  From  1836  to  ,1851,  31  persons  who  had  taken  part 
in  the  American  Episcopal  mission  were  obliged  to  relin¬ 
quish  their  labors.  The  celebrated  Niger  expedition,  or¬ 
ganized  and  equipped  with  the  zealous  co-operation  of 
Prince  Albert,  lost  by  death  in  the  few  months  of  its  explo¬ 
ration  of  that  river  40  of  the  145  whites  which  composed 
the  officers  and  crew,  while  among  the  158  blacks  engaged 
not  one  died  ! 

PREPARING  TO  GO. 

It  is  a  significant  coincidence  that,  with  the  general  efforts 
for  the  development  of  Africa,  there  should  come  among 


12 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


the  Negroes  of  the  United  States  unrest — an  exodus — a 
'longing  for  a  permanent  home  and  aspirations  for  nation¬ 
ality.  Inquiry  proves  that  there  is  scarcely  an  institution 
for  the  higher  education  of  colored  young  men  that  has 
not  several  students  who  have  chosen  Africa  as  their  coveted 
field  of  labor.  The  colored  Baptists  of  Virginia  are  sup¬ 
porting  one  of  their  race  in  the  Yoruba  country,  and  the 
colored  Baptists  of  South  Carolina  raised  $1,007  in  the 
year  ending  March  last  towards  the  salary  of  their  (colored) 
missionary  in  Liberia.  At  the  last  General  Conference  of 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  $25,000  was  ap¬ 
propriated  for  missionary  work  in  Africa,  and  Bishop  Tur¬ 
ner  has  since  been  appointed  to  proceed  to  Liberia  and  to 
organize  efforts  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  that 
republic.  He  states  that  “  already  four  ministers  and  two 
female  teachers  have  volunteered  to  go,  and  are  only  await¬ 
ing  the  means  of  transportation  and  support.”  Communi¬ 
cations  received  by  the  American  Colonization  Society 
demonstrate  that  some  500,000  people  of  color  are  consid¬ 
ering  the  question  of  removal  to  Liberia. 

OUR  ADVANTAGES. 

America  has  superior  advantages  over  all  Europe  for 
colonizing,  civilizing,  and  evangelizing  Africa  and  control- 
ing  its  valuable  commerce.  It  has  Liberia,  the  only  daugh¬ 
ter  republic,  with  about  1,000,000  of  settlers  and  natives, 
holding  some  600  miles  of  the  best  part  of  the  west  coast ; 
and  about  5,000,000  of  colored  people  at  home,  many  of 
the  latter  of  whom,  enterprising  farmers  and  mechanics, 
and  teachers  and  ministers,  would  make  homes  in  “Father- 
land”  if  cheap  and  rapid  passage  thither  were  provid¬ 
ed.  Their  presence  would  create  no  surprise  or  hostil- 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  WORLD. 


13 


ity  among  their  kin.  They  could  keep  communication 
open,  and  gradually  train  the  aborigines  in  habits  of  en¬ 
lightened  and  systematic  industry.  They  could  readily 
penetrate  the  vast  interior,  exchanging  foreign  goods  and 
manufactures  for  local  products,  which  are  everywhere  in 
demand.  They  could  extend  a  line  of  railroad  and  a  chain 
of  Christian  schools  and  churches,  with  civilized  farms  and 
settlements,  from  the  malarious  sea-board  across  the  beau¬ 
tiful,  populous,  and  salubrious  highlands,  to  the  banks  of 
the  Niger  and  on  to  the  very  heart  of  Soudan,  growing 
stronger  and  stronger  in  the  confidence  of  a  noble  destiny 
in  the  land  of  their  ancestors. 

SUPERIOR  AFRICANS. 

Many  of  the  inland  tribes  of  western  Africa  are  of  manly 
character  and  comparative  advancement  in  certain  useful 
arts.  Prof.  Edward  W.  Blyden,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  himself  a 
Negro,  writes  :  “  I  have  carefully  studied  the  African  char¬ 
acter,  and  can  speak  advisedly  of  its  worth.  I  have  seen 
him  under  Anglo-Saxon,  Celtic,  Scandinavian,  and  Semetic 
rule.  I  have  lived  in  the  United  States,  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  in  Y enezuela.  I  have  travelled  in  Syria,  Egypt,  and  in 
the  interior  of  Africa,  and  I  testify  that  the  manhood  of 
the  race  is  in  the  heart  of  Africa — the  basis  upon  which 
the  African  national  superstructure  is  to  be  erected.  When 
in  the  interior  of  Africa  I  have  met  men,  both  Pagan  and 
Mohammedan,  to  whom,  as  well  from  their  physical  as  their 
mental  characteristics,  one  voluntarily  and  instinctively 
feels  like  doing  reverence.” 

AN  AFRICAN  STATE  NEEDED. 

It  will  doubtless  be  observed  that  nearly  all  tlie  attempts 
to  penetrate  Africa  have  been  from  its  eastern  side.  For 


14 


THE  OPENING  OP  A  WORLD. 


the  United  States  the  indications  point  to  the  duty  and  pol¬ 
icy  of  entering  from  the  western  coast,  so  as  to  reach  the 
most  intelligent  population  of  the  continent,  and  especially 
those  from  whom  large  numbers  of  Africo-Americans  came 
as  slaves,  and  to  occupy  the  most  fertile  and  desirable  lands 
in  all  Africa.  Let  a  renewed  and  determined  effort  be 
made  to  strengthen  Liberia — the  open  gateway  to  the 
wealthy  interior. 

The  spirit  of  progress  has  shown  itself  strongly  in  that 
republic,  and  by  projects  for  extending  coffee-planting  and 
introducing  railroads  into  that  important  key  to  populous 
and  opulent  Soudan.  The  contemplated  annexation  on 
mutual  and  peaceful  terms  of  the  extensive  and  valuable 
territory  adjoining  its  eastern  frontier,  known  as  the  King¬ 
dom  of  Medina,  demonstrates  increasing  strength  and 
power. 

We  have  dreams  of  an  interior  State  of  Africans,  start¬ 
ing  from  Boporo  and  going  back,  where  the  people  will 
live  in  the  peace  and  quietness  of  a  highly-civilized  and 
pure  Christian  community,  and,  surrounded  by  a  congenial 
population  whom  they  can  influence,  grow  and  expand  un¬ 
der  the  guidance  of  their  race  instincts  into  a  useful  and 
honorable  State.  The  world  needs  such  a  State,  and  such 
a  State  it  will  have. 


[Editorial  from  The  Sun,  of  Baltimore,  November  27,  1880.] 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AFRICA. 


In  our  supplement  to-day,  under  the  caption  of  “The  Open¬ 
ing  of  a  World,”  will  be  found  a  very  interesting  and  exhaustive 
r6sum6  of  the  progress  of  recent  African  discovery,  research, 
colonization,  and  commerce.  This  article  has  been  carefully 
prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
at  Washington,  and  many  of  the  details  given  are  now  published 
for  the  first  time.  No  man  in  the  country  is  more  competent  to 
deal  with  this  subject  intelligently  than  Mr.  Coppinger,  who 
has  been  connected  with  the  Colonization  Society  for  forty-three 
years,  and  has  represented  Liberia  as  Consul-General  at  Wash¬ 
ington  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  commercial  and  man¬ 
ufacturing  countries  of  Europe  are  pressing  forward  their  expe¬ 
ditions  into  every  part  of  Africa  with  intense  vigor.  It  is  the 
only  continent  which  is  free  to  occupancy  and  conquest  by  the 
powers  of  civilization,  and  it  is  so  rich  in  every  species  of  prod¬ 
uct,  not  omitting  men,  that  it  cannot  fail  to  excite  the  avidity 
of  every  ambitious  government.  The  United  States  has  a  deep 
and  peculiar  interest  in  Africa.  The  Republic  of  Liberia  is  the 
one  foreign  colony  sent  out  from  our  loins.  It  was  founded  and 
has  been  protected  and  encouraged  by  the  United  States,  as 
affording  a  gateway  through  which  our  emancipated  slaves  could 
be  restored  to  the  continent  from  which  their  ancestors  were 
stolen  away. 

The  republic  which  we  have  set  up  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa 
is  growing  steadily,  and  nothing  but  its  poverty  and  the  defi¬ 
ciency  of  its  foreign  and  internal  communications  prevent  it 
from  developing  more  rapidly.  Its  population  is  already  a  mill¬ 
ion  in  number,  including  the  tribes  under  its  control;  it  has 


16 


TIIE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AFRICA. 


six  hundred  miles  of  coast  line,  and  a  very  little  deeper  penetra¬ 
tion  into  the  continent  will  bring  its  frontiers  pver  the  coast 
range  of  mountains  and  to  the  Niger  river.  Once  there,  it  will 
be  easy  to  open  communication  with  the  heart  of  the  Soudan. 
An  English  company  is  about  to  build  a  railroad  in  Liberia,  and 
the  country  is  so  rich  in  every  sort  of  tropical  product,  including 
cotton,  tobacco,  sugar,  and  the  best  and  richest  coffee,  that  a 
very  little  development  is  all  that  is  needed  to  convert  its  re¬ 
sources  into  wealth.  The  mere  fact  that  there  are  half  a  million 
colored  people  in  this  country  now  seeking  a  way  to  emigrate  to 
Liberia  should  suffice  to  make  the  United  States  eagerly  watch¬ 
ful  of  European  designs  upon  Africa.  If  these  500,000  colored 
people  could  be  successfully  transplanted  into  Liberia,  American 
trade  would  secure  a  foothold  in  Africa  which  could  not  be 
shaken ;  and  when  once  the  tide  of  emigration  successfully  sets 
that  way,  it  will  not  be  early  checked. 


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